Sony’s PlayStation line of consoles is the most successful in the history of gaming, with more than 450 million systems sold since the PS1 first went on sale back in 1994. Since then, PlayStation consoles have hosted some of the biggest and best franchises in gaming, many of them exclusively. Although some now lay dormant, others have stood the test of time and have appeared on every iteration of Sony’s home consoles.
Given the fairly lackluster launch-lineup of the newly released PlayStation 5, looking back at the series which have appeared consistently across Sony’s systems should give a fairly good idea of what’s still to come. Several of these series have already announced new titles for the PS5. For the others, it is probably only a matter of time.
10 Tomb Raider
There was once a time when Lara Croft was the face of the PlayStation. She actually made her debut on the ill-fated Sega Saturn though. The European Saturn release of Tomb Raider only predates the PlayStation version by 20 days, but, strictly speaking, the Saturn got there first. Ultimately, however, it really didn’t matter much in the long run.
Since 1996, there have been a further 19 Tomb Raider games, most of which have been available on PlayStation consoles. The Angel of Darkness was the first to appear on the PS2, Underworld the first on PS3, and the 2013 reboot the first to make its way to the PS4.
9 Crash Bandicoot
If Lara Croft was the face of the original PlayStation, then Crash Bandicoot was the attitude. The magnificent marsupial first spun his way onto the console in 1996 and made a huge impact right off the bat. The original trilogy are some of the best platformers available on the system and still hold up pretty well today.
Crash made the leap to the PS2 in the 2001 title The Wrath of Cortex, although things went a little downhill from there. Due to a drastic decline in quality, the series went on a seven-year hiatus with Crash’s only appearance on PS3 coming courtesy of Skylanders Imaginators Crash Bandicoot Edition. Eventually, things did get back on track for Crash, with the N. Sane Trilogy arriving for PS4 in 2017.
8 Tekken
The original PlayStation had a fairly underwhelming launch line-up that relied on titles like Rayman and Ridge Racer to sell the console. While these weren’t bad games, it was not until Tekken arrived a month later that people really had a solid reason to pick up Sony’s new machine.
The first 3 mainline Tekken games released for the original machine before Tekken Tag Tournament ushered in the PS2 era of Tekken titles in 1999. Eight years later and Tekken 6 became the first of the series’ two PS3 titles, while Tekken 7 arrived for the PS4 another eight years after that.
7 Final Fantasy
The Final Fantasy series actually started life as an ever-present on Nintendo consoles but, due to Nintendo sticking with cartridges for the N64, it moved over to Sony’s machines in the mid-nineties. Final Fantasy VII was the first of the series’ many entries on PlayStation and the one that really helped it to gain a proper foothold in the Western market. From there, it’s gone from strength to strength.
There were three mainline titles on the original PlayStation before Final Fantasy X released for the PS2 in 2001. Final Fantasy XIII marked the series’ shift to the PS3 and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was the first of three big releases on the PS4.
6 Metal Gear
Metal Gear is another series that started life on Nintendo consoles before finding its home on PlayStation. It may have become a multiplatform series in recent years, but there was a time when the only way to play Metal Gear was on PlayStation. This was the case with Metal Gear Solid, which released for the system in 1998.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty arrived on PS2 just three years later and was the first of two mainline Metal Gear games that appeared on the system. Guns of the Patriots ushered in the PS3 era in 2008 and the 2014 title Ground Zeroes was the first Metal Gear game for the PS4.
5 Resident Evil
Capcom’s survival-horror series has had its fair share of flings over the years, most notably with the Dreamcast and the GameCube. In its heart though, it’s always been bound to the PlayStation. The first Resident Evil game took the world by storm when it arrived on the system in 1996, effectively creating a brand new genre overnight.
The once Dreamcast-exclusive Code Veronica became the first Resident Evil title to make its way to the PS2 when it released in 2001, just over a year after its Dreamcast debut. 2009’s Resident Evil 5 was the first of several titles available for the PS3 and Revelations 2 was the first to hit the PS4 when it did so in 2015.
4 Gran Turismo
There have been some great racing series on PlayStation consoles over the years, but few have stood the test of time as well as Gran Turismo. Best known for its cutting-edge graphics and realistic simulation, the series has released high-quality games on every Sony console. It all started with Gran Turismo in 1997.
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec arrived later for the PS2 and 2006’s Gran Turismo HD Concept was the first of the series’ entries on the PS3. Releases have become a little more sporadic since then with just three console titles in the 11 years between HD Concept and the 2017 title Gran Turismo Sport on PS4.
3 MLB
It’s incredibly rare to find a sports game franchise that’s exclusive to just one line of consoles, but Sony’s MLB: The Show series is just that. Prior to 2006 though, it was simply known as MLB. The very first MLB title released on the original PlayStation and, since then, a new installment has arrived every year without fail.
MLB 2004 was the first of these titles for the PS2 and MLB 07: The Show marked the series’ debut on PS3. MLB 14: The Show became the first game for the PS4 and, given the pattern, it seems a fairly safe bet that MLB 21: The Show will be swinging its way onto the PS5 sometime next March.
2 Grand Theft Auto
The first Grand Theft Auto game was a 2D top-down title that released for the PlayStation in 1997. Versions for both the N64 and the Saturn were originally planned but, for various reasons, were never actually released. As a result, Sony’s machines effectively had exclusivity on the series until the Xbox came along four years later.
It would not be until the series made the leap to 3D that it really took off though. The PS2 version of GTA 3 was the best selling game of 2001 and the second best selling game of 2002, with the first being its sequel, Vice City. 2008’s Grand Theft Auto IV saw the series make its debut on the PS3, and its sequel, GTA V, was the first for the PS4. Interestingly, the latter is not only the best selling PS4 game of all time but also the best selling PS3 game.
1 Spider-Man
Before Sony snapped up the rights to video game adaptations of Spider-Man, Spidey’s games were multiplatform. Since 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, they have been exclusive to Sony consoles. The very first Spider-Man game to release on a Sony machine however was Spider-Man, which released in 2000.
Just to be confusing, the 2002 game Spider-Man was also the first Spider-Man game on PS2, but not the same Spider-Man that was on the original PlayStation. This version of Spider-Man was based on the Tobey Maguire movie, which also happened to be called Spider-Man. Thankfully, the PS3’s first Spider-Man game at least had the number three tacked on to the end which helps to differentiate it from the other two games.
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